Sometimes it Takes A Man
by Soledad
Summary: Dr. Zelenka has found a good friend in Atlantis. And friends sometimes help each other in unusual ways.


**Title: Sometimes It Takes A Man**

**Author:** Soledad

**Rating:** Adult (16+)

**Archiving:** my website and Otherworlds. Everyone else: ask, please.

**Disclaimer:** don't own them, no money made. Only Hays' personal background belongs to me.

**Timeframe:** Seasons 1, somewhen before "Hot Zone" – for apparent reasons.

**Author's note:** I gave Hays Hungarian origins because I wanted one of my people on Atlantis… well, sort of. In my stories, he also used to be a middleweight boxer in his college years. And a little warning: in my little alternate universe Dr. Weir has the first name Theresa and is still played by the one and only Jessica Steen.

Beta read by Rizzy, whom I owe my never-ending gratitude.

* * *

They had been mapping the unexplored parts of Atlantis since their arrival. Dr. Weir wanted to avoid any unpleasant surprises, so the engineers swarmed out on a regular basis with their palmtops and toolkits to register every corridor, every single room, and to repair the broken systems if necessary. Especially those that had to do something with an intruder alarm. There was no other way. The city was huge, and they were but a handful. They _needed_ the alarm systems if they wanted to survive at all.

Unlike most scientists, Radek Zelenka actually enjoyed these discovery trips into the previously unknown parts of the city. Granted, they mostly found the same things: Spartan living quarters – how came that a race as advanced as the Ancients had no understanding whatsoever for creature comfort? – labs, control rooms. But sometimes they were lucky enough to find a storage room with spare parts or crystals, or some machinery they had never seen before, and those times were what made the whole thing worthwhile for Radek. At those times, he felt like a child in a toy shop.

As an added bonus, the teams were constructed to contain people who could work together smoothly. As Dr. McKay rarely participated in such dull work (he considered it below his dignity and a waste of his genius), Radek usually got paired up with Paul Hays. Which was a good thing, as Hays was a competent engineer and pleasant company, with an incredibly dry sense of humour. He was also a very practical, down-to-earth person, which made working with him almost… restful.

Today, it promised to be another dull trip. They hadn't seen anything else so far but abandoned living quarters, in a more or less desolate shape – this part of the city had been flooded decades ago – and a few labs with broken equipment. So they killed the time with chatting about sports, TV series they missed, their favourite food or drink and things like that.

"May I ask you a personal question?" Hayes said, registering the sixteenth empty living area on his virtual map.

Radek stared at him over the rim of his glasses in surprise. "It depends. Define 'personal'."

"_Personal_ personal," Hays replied, saving the data.

Radek blinked a few times, then it finally sank in. "Oh. Well, yes, yes, you can ask. I don't promise answer, though."

"Fair enough," Hays pocketed his palmtop and looked him directly in the eyes. "Have you ever been with a man?"

The bluntness of the question shocked Radek for a moment, but after a moment of consideration he decided to give an equally honest answer.

"Not voluntarily," he said with a shrug. "I did what I had to get through military service unharmed."

"Shit," Hays cursed, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize…"

"Oh," Radek caught the meaning behind the apology. "No, it wasn't like _that_. Actually, servicing Sergeant Cvach spared me beatings and harassment from fellow recruits. If you are small and weak and have too much brains for their comfort, you need to seek protection – whatever price is. I had plans for later, you know. Needed my hands intact… and other body parts."

"Is that why you always seem a little uncomfortable around the marines?" Hays asked.

Radek nodded. "Unpleasant memories. Even with protection, I had to watch my back all time."

"How long?" Hays asked, his eyes narrowing in sympathetic anger.

"Two years," Radek shrugged again. "Was standard length of military service for everyone. I understand things like this can happen anywhere in military to people like me. Has to be testosterone-related."

They giggled and continued their mapping tour. After registering several more uninteresting rooms, Radek stopped and turned back to Hays.

"Why did you ask?"

"Surely not to spy around in your past," Hays replied. "I'm… checking out possible company."

"Oh?" For some reason, Radek felt almost flattered. _Almost_. "You… prefer men?"

"Not at all," it was Hays' turn to shrug, "though I had some experience on both sides of the street, and I like to keep all my chances open. We have twice as many men here as women, and I wouldn't touch some of the ladies with a ten-foot-pole. Others I _would_ like to get involved with would never consider me as a potential partner. Besides, even here, women would want commitment."

"And you don't," it wasn't a question from Radek's side, but Hays answered it nevertheless – with a question of his own.

"Do _you_?"

"Actually," Radek said hesitantly, "yes, I do."

"Even here?" Hays asked in obvious surprise.

Radek nodded. "_Especially_ here, _ano_."

"You gotta be kidding!" Hays exclaimed. "We're in a foreign galaxy, cut off from home, with no hope to return, ever, and we could be eaten by vampiric aliens any day…"

"My point exactly," Radek interrupted gently. "It's about roots, you see? We don't have any here… unless we make some for ourselves."

"I see," Hays thought about that for a moment. "Have you found someone already?"

Radek shrugged. "Perhaps. We started off on wrong foot, maybe. I don't know yet."

Hays gave him a searching look. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," Radek admitted, "but perhaps second opinion would be helpful. If you're willing to listen."

"That's what friends are for, ain't it?" Hays said. "'Fess up."

Radek was pleased that the Hungarian – for that was how he thought of Hays, despite the fact that the man had been born in the States, although from Hungarian parents – considered him a friend. In this hostile, foreign galaxy friends were invaluable. So he told Hays the story of his panicked encounter with Marta – and his hopes that it might result in something positive, after all.

Hays remained silent for a while, apparently digesting the news he'd been given.

"You do realize that the cultural differences might be a problem, even if the two of you _can_ get over that rather… bumpy start," he finally said. "The Athosians are an illiterate, pre-technological people, led by primitive beliefs and superstitions."

Radek nodded. "I know. But they are not stupid. They can use technology, even if they don't understand how it works. And if circumstances change, they can learn new things. Besides, I don't need to talk about work at home. I never did. My wife… my _ex-wife_ wasn't interested in my work, either."

"Which is why you aren't married to her anymore," Hays grinned. Radek shook his head.

"No, she divorced me because I was always in lab and never home. And because I brought home too little money."

"Well, money would hardly be a problem with the Athosians," Hays grinned, "but you still live in the lab, practically."

"That can be changed," Radek said simply, but Hays rolled his eyes.

"With that slave driver McKay in our backs? No way!"

They both laughed. Then Radek became serious again, because there was one thing that still bothered him.

"May I ask personal question now?" he asked.

Hays nodded. "Go ahead."

"Why did you ask _me_ about other men?"

"Well," Hays said, "I thought if you were not adverse, we could help each other." Seeing Radek's eyes widening in understanding, he shrugged. "Jerking off in the shower can do the trick for a while, but it's much nicer when someone else does it for you. While holding you in his arms and humping your backside."

Radek felt himself blush and cursed inwardly. He wasn't a virgin, for God's sake! He was a married man – well, a divorced one – and not ignorant of the mechanics of man-on-man sex. Which he didn't even like very much. Still, the thought of leaning naked against an equally bare Paul Hays under the hot spray and letting the other man work on his needy flesh made him grow hard instantly.

Hays watched his reaction with a predatory smile.

"Not so adverse, it seems," he said, raising a hand to silence Radek's indignant protests. "Calm down, Radek. I won't ask you anything that makes you uncomfortable. Nor do I wish to stand in the way of your future bliss. I accept that you have different goals in the long run. All I'm saying is hat there are more… immediate needs, and that helping each other won't necessarily be such a horrible thing."

Radek blushed again, furiously. He could practically feel Hays' hands – _very_ skilled hands, he'd seen them at work on all sorts of sensitive equipment – on his skin. Would that really be so wrong? He could still try pursuing Marta in the hope to start a new family with her. Eventually. But in the meantime – why should he deny himself some basic relief, brought by a friend?

"No, it wouldn't be horrible thing," he admitted, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. Hays laughed softly.

"Well, we've found any number of abandoned quarters down here. Do you think we could get one of the showers running?"

"_Kdo hledá, najde_," Radek replied and translated it for Hays into English. "He who looks, finds."

"I certainly hope so," Hays said with a slight, intimate smile. It was very different from his usual broad, good-natured grins, and for some reason, it made Radek's stomach flutter.

Half an hour later, he was standing under the hotwired shower of one of the abandoned living areas (if one could speak of _wiring_ in context with the crystal-based Ancient technology, that is), leaning against Hays' hard body with his full length – not that _that_ would be much, mind you – the water plastering his hair against his skull, giving himself into those skilled hands completely. Surprisingly, the things Hays was doing to his body felt indescribably good. His less than voluntary encounters with Sergeant Cvach had never included any efforts to make _him_ feel good. That was all about Cvach's needs, which he had served in exchange for protection.

He would still have preferred a comfortable bed and the soft body of Marta in his arms. But this was good, too. More than good, on a very basic level.

As a rule, he didn't get intimate with other men. He had had few partners since he'd left military service, and all his partners were female. He'd always been gentle and considerate and protective to them. But sometimes, just sometimes, he missed the chance to relax in the arms of a stronger partner, surrounded by the strength of another man, to afford the luxury of being vulnerable. He'd never acted on it before; he even avoided the thought, as it was a dangerous attitude. But today, he positively craved it.

"I… I do not usually do this," he said tentatively. He could feel Hays nod against his shoulder where he was busily working on creating a hickey. Fortunately one that would be hidden by his clothes.

"I understand. But sometimes it takes a man to know what a man needs."

The End


End file.
